


Tony Stark is Definitely Not Peter Parker's Father

by amine



Series: Gen X and Gen Z [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Family Fluff, Gen, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 05:28:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16191029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amine/pseuds/amine
Summary: "While Peter continued to babble, Tony stared at him in open-mouthed wonder. He definitely said father-son retreat. He definitely just asked Tony to come along with him on such a thing.Leave it to this kid to broach the subject that Tony was just planning to avoid for the rest of his life. He shook his head in disbelief and held up a hand to stop Peter from babbling himself into incoherency."





	Tony Stark is Definitely Not Peter Parker's Father

Tony Stark was not Peter Parker’s father.

Tony Stark was not Peter Parker’s father _figure_ either.

Peter already had a father. Even if his father had died while Peter was very young, it didn’t change that there was a person who helped bring Peter into the world and had loved him dearly, by all accounts.

Peter also already had a father figure in his uncle Ben. Ben was the man who had helped raise Peter and turn him into the brilliant and kind young man that he was. Ben, whose death had further shaped Peter’s moral compass, turning him into the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man instead of a selfish brat with superpowers. 

Peter also had a mother, even if she was also gone, and he still had a mother figure in May. May, who had also helped to turn Peter into the perfect kid. May, who had had absolutely no qualms ripping into Tony when she found out that Peter was Spider-Man and had been given a suit to assist in his efforts. May, who loved Peter with all her heart and wanted nothing but to see her baby succeed and be happy.

There was simply no room for Tony in Peter’s life. The fact remained that he’d only shown up in Peter’s life after multiple people had already parented him to perfection. He’d simply given Peter a super suit and whisked him off to be a distraction during a fight with a former ally.

He could do upgrades and maintenance on Peter’s suit and maybe let Peter tinker in his labs from time to time, but they were maybe sort of friendly at best. 

Because Tony Stark was definitely not Peter Parker’s father.

That, of course, didn’t stop Peter from worming his way into Tony’s heart and burrowing himself there where he’d never leave. It also didn’t stop Tony from having a lot of pseudo-parental feelings towards Peter, like being proud of him when he succeeded or worried to death when he was hurt. 

It would never stop Peter from showing up at the compound, throwing his backpack on a couch like he lived there—never mind that he had his own permanent room whenever he wanted it—and leaning over a table in the lab to stare uninvited at whatever Tony was working on. Had it been anyone else, Tony wouldn’t have hesitated to push them away and tell them off. Because it was Peter, his heart warmed and he adjusted to allow Peter a better look.

The rhythm they inevitably fell into was comfortable, and they just kept getting better and better at nonverbally communicating what they needed from each other. Tony might muse out loud that he needed something, only to have the screwdriver he couldn’t quite think of shoved his way by Peter. Peter might scratch his head about his web fluid formula, then Tony would add a drop of a chemical solution that would improve the fluid’s adhesion properties. They were more in sync than even he and Bruce were when they worked together.

That day, though, although Peter didn’t hesitate to make himself comfortable in Tony’s lab, he was unusually quiet and distracted. Rather than start on a project on his own, he fiddled with his pencil, twirling it in his fingers and staring vacantly at the opposite wall.

This wasn’t lost on Tony, who waved a hand in front of Peter, whose startled jump made Tony laugh.

“You awake in there, kid?”

“Y-Yeah. Sorry.” Peter’s face flushed pink, and he scratched at the back of his head.

“You gonna tell me what’s up or will I just have a very life-like mannequin in the lab with me all night?”

Peter looked stricken, his blush deepening as he dropped the pencil and toyed with the strings on his hoodie instead. Tony wasn’t sure what to think of this change in Peter’s demeanor, but just as he was starting to find it amusing, Peter finally spoke.

“W-Well...there’s this father-son engineering retreat next weekend and, well, you’re probably going to be busy, but if you have the time maybe you’d want to come with me? Only if you want to, of course! N-Not that I’m saying I think you’re my dad, because that would be really weird, right? Just that a mentor is sort of like a dad in this instance and I just, you know, if you could come I’d be really happy—”

While Peter continued to babble, Tony stared at him in open-mouthed wonder. He definitely said father-son retreat. He definitely just asked Tony to come along with him on such a thing.

Leave it to this kid to broach the subject that Tony was just planning to avoid for the rest of his life. He shook his head in disbelief and held up a hand to stop Peter from babbling himself into incoherency.

“Okay, stop talking for a second, kid.”

Peter sucked his lower lip into his mouth as he abruptly stopped talking, and his eyes gave him an even more sheepish appearance that made Tony chuckle. He put a hand on Peter’s shoulder, feeling Peter’s muscles relax beneath the contact, and he smiled.

“If you think I’m worthy of coming with you on a trip like that, I’d be honored.”

Peter’s eyes lit up, and he released his lip from his mouth as his face brightened into a blinding smile.

“Th...thank you, Mr. Stark!! I’m glad you think _I’m_ worthy enough for you to even bother wasting your time coming on this trip even though you obviously have way more important things to do than spending time with some teenager’s engineering group. I’ll make it up to you somehow if you—”

Tony laughed. “Seriously, kid. Stop talking.”

Peter sucked his lower lip back into his mouth, but he was doing a terrible job of hiding his delight behind the turned up corners of his mouth and his bright eyes. Tony, in turn, did a terrible job of hiding how pleased he was, biting his lip to try to suppress the smile that was steadily growing on his face.

Tony Stark was definitely not Peter Parker’s father.

But he’d be lying if he said he wouldn’t enjoy being Peter’s father figure.

**Author's Note:**

> I noticed that in a lot of fics, Peter has some parent day/father-son thing where Peter doesn't want to invite Tony because he's afraid Tony will turn him down but Tony shows up anyway. So I thought I'd flip it and have Peter actually ask this time, ha ha.
> 
> Also! If anyone knows of a good source for Iron Dad prompts or wants to throw some my way, I’d appreciate it! :D


End file.
